Friday, March 18, 2005

Funny, he doesn't look Scottish....

Actually, the Guardian piece is one of several found in British newspapers over the past several days since the BBC's Jeremy Paxman decided to escalate a row with the Labour government's Health Minister that began earlier. Here is the Times summary of the episode:

The Newsnight anchor, who last week clashed with the Glaswegian minister on the programme, has compared the dominance of Scots at Westminster to India’s British imperialist rulers.

Paxman’s remarks come after Reid took offence at the broadcaster’s description of him as Labour’s “attack dog” during a discussion of the government’s record on the National Health Service.

Reid countered: “If you have a PhD and a posh accent from a school like yours, you are regarded as a sophisticate. You called me an attack dog because I’ve got a Glasgow accent.”

Last night the presenter, whose grandmother was born in Glasgow, expressed concern at the growing influence of the “Scottish ruling class” that he believes is dominating public life in England.

From the Guardian article we find that the placement of Scots is not limited to the Cabinet....